Welcome

Welcome to the POZ/AIDSmeds Community Forums, a round-the-clock discussion area for people with HIV/AIDS, their friends/family/caregivers, and
others concerned about HIV/AIDS. Click on the links below to browse our various forums; scroll down for a glance at the most recent posts; or join in the
conversation yourself by registering on the left side of this page.

Privacy Warning: Please realize that these forums are open to all, and are fully searchable via Google and other search engines. If you are HIV positive
and disclose this in our forums, then it is almost the same thing as telling the whole world (or at least the World Wide Web). If this concerns you, then do not use a
username or avatar that are self-identifying in any way. We do not allow the deletion of anything you post in these forums, so think before you post.

The information shared in these forums, by moderators and members, is designed to complement, not replace, the relationship between an individual and his/her own
physician.

All members of these forums are, by default, not considered to be licensed medical providers. If otherwise, users must clearly define themselves as such.

Forums members must behave at all times with respect and honesty. Posting guidelines, including time-out and banning policies, have been established by the moderators
of these forums. Click here for “Am I Infected?” posting guidelines. Click here for posting guidelines pertaining to all other POZ/AIDSmeds community forums.

We ask all forums members to provide references for health/medical/scientific information they provide, when it is not a personal experience being discussed. Please
provide hyperlinks with full URLs or full citations of published works not available via the Internet. Additionally, all forums members must post information which are
true and correct to their knowledge.

Author
Topic: Probably going under the knife (Read 5262 times)

I promised Bocker when we were in Boston I would see a podiatrist regarding my foot pain, which I thought would be nothing more than some lipoatrophy coupled with a bit of arthritis.

After all, the pads on the bottom of my feet are minimal at best, and it does hurt to walk barefooted.

Naturally, I was wrong.

I have been diagnosed with a condition known as Hallux Rigidus. That's is a fancy way of saying I have a rigid great toe on my left foot.

I know it sounds silly, but it really is a pain, I have bone growth around the joint at the base of the toe coupled with arthritis, which is why it hurts to walk, etc.

So, the doctor wants to go in and remove the offending bone growth, plus cut a wedge out of another bone to pull the joint up and apart, making it work properly again.

Before that happens though, he wants me to have a CT scan to measure my legs. He is of the opinion that when I was gay bashed and had to have my right leg repaired via surgery and implanting metal shanks, that the right leg is now a tad shorter than the left.

This, the doctor said, probably caused me to turn the left foot in to compensate which, in turn, placed more stress on the great toe and its assorted joints and leads me to where I am today.

They will let me know when the CT scan is scheduled in a few days.

The reason it is important to know if this is the case is the aftercare of said surgery. If the doctor's theory is borne out by the CT scan, I will probably have to look at having my shoes made to compensate for the difference.

Something tells me this little doctor visit is going to cost me.

I am no fan of surgery. Never have liked it and avoid it like the plague. The problem is, this is a progressive problem and has even caused disability in some people. Also, the worst case scenario would be to ignore it now and then have to have the toe and joint fused down the road.

Not something I would prefer.

I almost didn't keep the appointment today because yesterday, all of a sudden, I was taken ill.

I had palpitations coupled with shortness of breath that neither of my inhalers remedied, with achy joints and muscles and skin that was sore to the touch, such as when you are recovering from shingles.

And I was FREEZING, even though the house was nearly 80 degrees (I am not looking forward to the gas bill.)

I took my temperature, it was 98.6, so no temperature.

I don't know what it was. All I know is it came on fast and hit me like a ton of bricks.

Now, today, I am feeling much improved and am functioning rather well, although I still have a headache.

It was a good reminder for me that I am not invincible and should take better care of myself.

Wow, Mark, that's a lot. I hope everything goes alright with the CT scan, and that it's what the doctor believes it to be. I also hope you don't get that short of breath feeling and the things that came with that. Wow, please, take care of yourself, and let us know what's going on!

Logged

I've never killed anyone, but I frequently get satisfaction reading the obituary notices.-Clarence Darrow

I promised Bocker when we were in Boston I would see a podiatrist regarding my foot pain, which I thought would be nothing more than some lipoatrophy coupled with a bit of arthritis.

After all, the pads on the bottom of my feet are minimal at best, and it does hurt to walk barefooted.

Naturally, I was wrong.

I have been diagnosed with a condition known as Hallux Rigidus. That's is a fancy way of saying I have a rigid great toe on my left foot.

I know it sounds silly, but it really is a pain, I have bone growth around the joint at the base of the toe coupled with arthritis, which is why it hurts to walk, etc.

So, the doctor wants to go in and remove the offending bone growth, plus cut a wedge out of another bone to pull the joint up and apart, making it work properly again.

Before that happens though, he wants me to have a CT scan to measure my legs. He is of the opinion that when I was gay bashed and had to have my right leg repaired via surgery and implanting metal shanks, that the right leg is now a tad shorter than the left.

This, the doctor said, probably caused me to turn the left foot in to compensate which, in turn, placed more stress on the great toe and its assorted joints and leads me to where I am today.

They will let me know when the CT scan is scheduled in a few days.

The reason it is important to know if this is the case is the aftercare of said surgery. If the doctor's theory is borne out by the CT scan, I will probably have to look at having my shoes made to compensate for the difference.

Something tells me this little doctor visit is going to cost me.

I am no fan of surgery. Never have liked it and avoid it like the plague. The problem is, this is a progressive problem and has even caused disability in some people. Also, the worst case scenario would be to ignore it now and then have to have the toe and joint fused down the road.

Not something I would prefer.

Yee Gawd Mark, (or should I be catty and say something like: At our age we should be thankful anything is rigid anymore. ?), but seriously hopefully this will bring you some relief and be rid of the pain.

Quote

I almost didn't keep the appointment today because yesterday, all of a sudden, I was taken ill.

I had palpitations coupled with shortness of breath that neither of my inhalers remedied, with achy joints and muscles and skin that was sore to the touch, such as when you are recovering from shingles.

And I was FREEZING, even though the house was nearly 80 degrees (I am not looking forward to the gas bill.)

I took my temperature, it was 98.6, so no temperature.

I don't know what it was. All I know is it came on fast and hit me like a ton of bricks.

My first thought would be possibly anxiety, except I know you, so I doubt it. Still our minds can be very powerful forces sometimes.

Quote

Now, today, I am feeling much improved and am functioning rather well, although I still have a headache.

It was a good reminder for me that I am not invincible and should take better care of myself.

HUGS,

Mark

There's an old saying: Recognition of obvious is the first sign of genius! I'm just sayin!

Wow, Mark, that's a lot. I hope everything goes alright with the CT scan, and that it's what the doctor believes it to be. I also hope you don't get that short of breath feeling and the things that came with that. Wow, please, take care of yourself, and let us know what's going on!

Thanks Betty. I don't know where the shortness of breath, etc., came from. either. It just suddenly appeared.

Yee Gawd Mark, (or should I be catty and say something like: At our age we should be thankful anything is rigid anymore. ?), but seriously hopefully this will bring you some relief and be rid of the pain.

My first thought would be possibly anxiety, except I know you, so I doubt it. Still our minds can be very powerful forces sometimes.

There's an old saying: Recognition of obvious is the first sign of genius! I'm just sayin!

Take care buddy.

RAB

RAB, I knew someone would come up with that bit about the "rigid." It figures it would be you!

Someone else suggested anxiety, but I had nothing to be anxious about. Of all the doctors I have seen, the podiatrist was the least of my worries - or so I thought.

I'm not so much worried about the surgery, but the three weeks on crutches will be a royal pain in the backside.

I haven't figured out how I am going to do that and still get around in my Miata, which has a manual transmission.

If this is how the podiatrist went, I can't wait for what the dermatologist and the gastrenterologist find.

Oh MarkThis does sound like something you are going to have to deal with and I know you are not a happy camper about it.Thats why I THINK that what you experienced is a panic attack:"I almost didn't keep the appointment today because yesterday, all of a sudden, I was taken ill." quote you.The last time I experienced a panic attack is when I reported for jury duty. I was so visibly "ill" that the woman next to me in line asked me if I need to go get some water and sit down.Our mind does a number on us when it wants to.

I still have something of a malaise going on, with some body aches to go along with it. I guess it could all be in my head.

But I have never heard of panic attacks making you feel cold, which I also am still having issues with.

Maybe it was a combination of bit of a bug causing the malaise and some psychsomatic reaction of some sort causing the palpitations, etc.

The doctor left the decision regarding the surgery up to me. I will probably go for it, if for no other reason than I like to nip things in the bud rather than letting them become more serious.

I will have to time it carefully though. Sometime soon a doctor is going to be peeking up my backside and I don't think I want to be on crutches when he does. Heaven forbid, I could lose the crutches up there too!

You've certainly had your issues and I wish you well with this latest challenge. I'm sure you've done your homework, however, I came across this sight which gives a pretty good overview with respect to Hallux Rigidus:

I'm, glad to see your doctor ordered a ct scan. The scans they have now are 93% as effective as invasive exploratory, especially, the newer 64 ct scans. It would be interesting to know if they will use the newer scan as opposed to the 16 ct. Although, I doubt it, since they are mainly used to scan small blood vessels for heart disease. See:

Mark a lady friend of mine ( a little on the heavy side) had this done to both feet, one at a time... a real nuisance and took a while to get through all the healing but she is now back to dancing pain free, and can walk around the block with out stopping.... I hope yours will be as smooth and fully recovered as hers.... want to see you dancing in Vegas

I hope it goes well honey, that you make a quick recovery. How long will you have to be "off your feet"? Or is it something that you can sort of hobble around with?

Both my big toes ache, especially at night; I think it's a return of the gout. Ouch... Will speak to my doc about it next month at my regular visit.

Good luck with this sweetie.

Love, Alan

The doc said I had to be off that foot for three weeks. That means crutches - again. I was on crutches for nine months when the damage and repair work had to be done to the right leg. I even used a walker at first, then crutches, then graduated to a cane.

I still have the cane.

So, I think I will muddle through the three weeks on crutches. The hard part is going to be finding a way to get around since my Miata is a standard and I don't know if I will be able to use a clutch.

The hard part is going to be finding a way to get around since my Miata is a standard and I don't know if I will be able to use a clutch.

Hey Mark,

Sorry to hear about the surgery, but better to get it done now, before it gets any worse. I had surgery on my left foot and found that you can "heel" clutch just fine, without killing the rest of the foot. Try it before your surgery, you may be surprised.

hey Mark,Sorry to hear about your challenge. Also, once you get it going, you really don't have to use the clutch, just put gentle pressure on the stick when you are shifting and it will slip into gear. I used to do it with my Kenworth all the time, you just have to match the RPMs to what is normal and the synchromesh will do the rest without any damage to the gears. Try it, you'll like it.

Logged

The Bible contains 6 admonishments to homosexuals,and 362 to heterosexuals.This doesn't mean that God doesn't love heterosexuals, It's just that they need more supervision.Lynn Lavne

Join the club with foot problems. I have been seeing my foot doctor for about a year, and now found out I may have to have surgery on my right heel. Bone spur or something. Waiting to see what happens.

I don't know what to do in these situations. It is painful, but nothing I can't live with. So I guess the decision will be mine unless he feels there is a real risk.

At any rate, thought you'd like to know I sympathize even though my problems is at the other end , so to speak.....

Hi Mark, you might have to give up driving for a week or 2, tho I know these new cars don't have tight clutches.

I have a foot condition called Mortens Neuroma where a nerve gets painful feels like I"m standing or walking with a marble under my foot. It comes and goes thankfully. My sister has had them removed and said it came back 2 years later so I won't do anything.

Hope all goes well. I just got out of surgery and trying to cope with wound cleaning and tubes, such a pain as I'm single. If I went out I'd scare women and little children right now. 2 days the tubes come out. At least last night I had 10 full hours of sleep.